MUSIC
40 THEBIGISSUE.ORG.AU 9–22 MAR 2018
This visceral collaboration finds avant-garde icon
Laurie Anderson answering Kronos Quartet’s
reeling, erratic strings with both thorny narratives
and unruly electronics. Performed around
the world as a prestigious live piece before
finally being recorded and released, Landfall
is grounded in Anderson’s firsthand experience of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
But it’s by no means a straightforward recounting, instead unfolding over
30 genre-less tracks that vary wildly in mood and length. Nevertheless, they
form a cohesive whole. The bulk of the tracks are instrumental, which makes
Anderson’s monologues all the more powerful when they do arrive. “ I was in a
Dutch karaoke bar, trying to sing a song in Korean,” begins one, while ‘Dreams’
borders on stand-up comedy. Most ambitious and eccentric of all is the almost
10-minute centrepiece ‘Nothing Left But Their Names’. These engrossing
reveries stubbornly blur the line between gravity and whimsy. DOUG WALLEN
LANDFALL
LAURIE ANDERSON
& KRONOS QUARTET
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“ This ain’t the cleeeeannnn version!” whoops
Justin Timberlake on the opening track of Man of
the Woods. The irony is, of course, that this is the
clean version; it’s the cleanest record Timberlake
has ever produced. Over his career, Timberlake
has consistently delivered semi-revolutionary pop
music. He once seemed like a visionary talent,
the kind of star that comes around once in a blue moon. In hindsight, maybe we
were wrong about that. Man of the Woods sounds like Timberlake’s oeuvre re-
written without any of the craftsmanship. The album’s early half is where most
of the damage lies – from the bizarre, autotune-free trap of ‘Midnight Summer
Jam’ to the tinny Migos-lite ‘Supplies’. These songs are insufferably long, barely
worthy of a pity listen. The album’s second half fares better, but only because
most of the songs, like ‘Breeze Off the Pond’, could reasonably be tuned out if
heard at, say, a mall. I was hoping this album would be revolutionary; next time,
I’ll be praying for “inof fensive”. SHAAD D’SOUZA
MAN OF THE WOODS
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
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COURTNEY BARNETT HASN’T lost her way
with words. Three years since the release of
her acclaimed debut album, the Melbourne
singer-songwriter is back with scorching single
‘Nameless, Faceless’. On it, Barnett takes aim at
the haters, singling out creeps whose business it is
to attack women just like her: successful, strong,
outspoken. But this is about more than just
internet trolls. This deceptively upbeat grunge-
pop anthem is about power and fear. Borrowing a
line from The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret
Atwood, Barnett reminds us what is really at
stake: “Men are scared that women will laugh at
them/I wanna walk through the park in the dark/
Women are scared that men will kill them/I hold
my keys between my fingers.”
While the song was written just over two
years ago, its sentiments echo louder still now.
Assisting that echo (quite literally) on backing
vocals is Kim Deal (Pixies, The Breeders) who
provides some ghostly “oooohs”. According to
the liner notes it won’t be Deal’s only appearance
on the forthcoming LP, either, with both Kim
and her sister Kelley also contributing guitar
and voice on the excellently titled ‘Crippling Self-
Doubt and a General Lack of Confidence’.
Over the past two years Barnett has been
forced to navigate a sometimes brutal whirlwind
of success. More exposed than ever, she could
have shied away from the haters, but on
‘Nameless, Faceless’ Barnett not only meets their
gaze, she sticks a middle finger in their face.
SARAH SMITH > Music Editor
If every artist has a magnum opus, Mia Dyson’s
sixth record, If I Said Only So Far I Take It Back,
is hers. Over 10 tracks, Dyson – now based in
LA – finds strength in softness, subtlety and
honesty. She says these songs are about being
“open to the world as it is, especially at a time
where there’s so much division”. Sometimes that means acknowledging fear’s
omnipresence; like on ‘Being Scared’, which concludes, “ there’s no end, to
being scared”. It’s an apt line for these times. But the record also embraces
brightness and optimism, and ‘Fool’ is an anthem for rallying against negativity.
‘Gambling’ poses the question “Am I willing to gamble with life?” – a question
we surely must all answer in order to find meaning. Throughout, there are
echoes of Stevie Nicks and Joan Armatrading, but ultimately this is Dyson’s
songbook, and an almost perfect one at that. IZZY TOLHURST
IF I SAID ONLY SO
FAR I TAKE IT BACK
M IA DYSON
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NOT SHYING AWAY.